Modeling Studies of Blowing Snow and Polynya Interaction Associated with the Extreme Wind Event of February-March 2018 in the Arctic
Extremely winds at the surface often cause blowing snow, an uplift and horizontal transport of surface snow by winds. In this study, we applied a snow/ice-enhanced Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ice) model to examine the blowing snow and polynya interaction during the extreme wind event of February-March 2018 in the Arctic, when rarely a polynya event occurred north of Greenland during the winter months due to the strong winds. A total of four simulation experiments with or without polynya or blowing snow process were designed to explore the blowing snow and polynya interaction. Comparison of the simulation results indicates that while blowing snow helps enhancing polynya surface-air interaction, the thermodynamic moistening and cooling effects due to blowing snow sublimation are also amplified by the enhanced surface winds associated with polynya. Our results suggested that the enhanced polynya surface-air interaction due to blowing snow can potentially impact the development of an polynya event.